John Prine Biography & News

John Prine Details

About John Prine

About John Prine (12/6/2013)

It's fair to say that John Prine took the roundabout way to stardom. Born in Kentucky, he did a brief tenure in the U.S. Army and later became a fixture on the Chicago folk scene. But it was a friendship with the one and only Kris Kristofferson that helped to put him on the map.

It was Prine's early compositions that caught the ear of Kristofferson, and put the wheels in motion for getting Prine's name on a record deal. His eponymous debut album didn't prove to be a commercial success, and consecutive follow-up projects in 1972 and '73 didn't fare any better. But Prine sure had the attention of his fellow musicians, who covered his songs and kept his name in the right circles.

Prine's only LP to reach the Top 100 came in 1975, but he truly thrived when he formed his own label, Oh Boy Records, in the 1980s. His more country-flavored material earned him a Grammy nomination in the Contemporary Folk category, and 1991's Grammy-winning "The Missing Years," featured appearances from the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty.
To this day, Prine is often cited as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation. He successfully battled squamous cell cancer in 1998 and has ups and downs since then. He has returned to the Top 100, most notably with the 2005 album "Fair & Square," and then again in 2010 with "In Person & On Stage" and in 2011 with "Singing Mailman Delivers."

Prine announced on his website on November 21, 2013 that he has an operable form of lung cancer, "non-small cell carcinoma." He postponed several concerts following the announcement, but intends to reschedule them in 2014.